The right of access to education has been an issue of international concern for many
decades. With the transition to democracy in South Africa, marked by the first
democratic election in 1994, the right of access to education has also formed a
cornerstone of South Africa’s education policy. Access to nine years of basic
education is guaranteed in terms of the South African Constitution. The right to
further education is also entrenched in terms of the Constitution, although this is
conditional on the state making this progressively available and accessible through
reasonable measures.
By using actual 2001 population and school enrolment data, this research study
measures access to schooling by using standard international indicators of access,
namely gross and net enrolment ratios, age-specific enrolment rates, and apparent and
net intake rates. The study compares such data with existing estimates by other
organisations and analysts. It assesses the extent to which universal or full access to
basic education has been achieved and how far South Africa has gone in making
further education progressively available.
The study suggests that in-depth analysis of the data shows that access to education is
not as widespread as other estimates have indicated. The net enrolment ratio in the
basic or compulsory education phase is 89% and not 97% as estimated by the
Department of Education. Some 13% of children of school-going age (or 1.55 million
children) are not attending school.
The study found that universal access to basic education has not been achieved. There
are problems with access to further education and South African learners’ access to
education is affected by provincial location. Provincial gross enrolment ratios range
from 89% to 101% and net enrolment ratios range from 82% to 91%.
The study recommends that further research is required to identify the barriers that are
preventing full access to education. It also recommends that future progress in terms of access to education must continue to be monitored which means that good, accurate and consistent data must be made available.

en

dc.format.mimetype

application/pdf

dc.language.iso

en

en

dc.subject

Education

en

dc.subject

South Africa

en

dc.subject

Gross Enrolment Ration

en

dc.subject

GER

en

dc.subject

Net Enrolment Ratio

en

dc.subject

NER

en

dc.title

Access to and participation in education in South Africa: a quantitative analysis